This morning, C started the morning on a serious note. There have been much hype of the release of the latest instalment of The Hunger Games and C must have been kept in the loop by her classmates. She asked me if it was a good show to watch.

I took a deep breath... and started. First, I acknowledged that the book was extremely popular and almost all, of my students were reading it at some point or another. Then I went on to say that the movie was an even bigger hit. Finally I gave her my views on whether it was a good book.

In the story, in a futuristic world, people live under a harsh and authoritarian rule and their idea of "fun, entertaining and live" action means these rulers sit in the comfort of their homes, tune into their television sets, and watch a pair of candidates from each province fight and kill each other. 

I went on to ask her if we already have such "live, realistic" television shows and slowly she came to realise that I was referring to the reality tv shows we already have on tv now. I said, yes and imagine that the killing was real. There was no "waking up and dusting your feet" when the cameras stopped rolling and she concluded that if such a thing really would to happen in the future, life would be unbearable. I had to burst her bubble by telling her, much to her horror, that back in heyday of the Roman Empire, that was also what people considered entertainment and people would go in doves to watch the spectacle.

So, back to her question on whether it was a good movie to watch; unless we could discuss the themes at length, I would not take her for it, albeit, a hit all around the world.

The school holidays are coming to an end soon. Daddy and I thought that before it did, we should just spend some quality time with ourselves.

It was a wonderful meal. :)

The food was exceptional!

C's kid's meal! The food came in a cute bento tier and when C opened it to reveal what was inside, she was in awe. It was an extremely large portion and Daddy and I had to help her finish her maki. But she ate all of the udon, even finished up the entire bowl of soup.

Daddy and I had our share of noodles.

And of course. We finally managed to catch the much talked about movie: Kung Fu Panda 2.

On several occasions, I wanted to take C for sushi-making class but it never quite materialised because the timing was wrong or I was busy with work. This term break, I was determined to take her for it and made arrangements 2 weeks before the September holidays.

C had her friends, Ashley and Keziah with her for the session and she was so happy and excited that she couldn't sleep the night before. She was going on and on about what she was planning to make.

It was pouring but we made it there safe and sound and thankfully on time. The girls really looked cute in their get-up, hats and aprons and all. 

Washing their hands before handling the food. Good hygiene practice!

The ingredients and tools that they would be using.

And the session began...

The mummies left their girls there and went for breakfast and did some walking around... and when we returned some 3 hours later,

the sushi were done and had been nicely packed.

Yes, C made all these. I was pretty impressed. :) 

But she wasn't done. In fact, the 3 of them were busy drawing on their tees...

We were unable to collect the tees as they were not dry.

But the girls were mighty proud of themselves. The young chap decided to join in our photo shot and he was really sweet with the ladies. :)

They were each given a goody bag before they left.

No prizes for guessing what C had for lunch. Ha ha!

After lunch, Uncle Kai Wei drove us all to the Omni theater to catch a movie.

Nice! :)

We had a wonderful day!

Ever since C came along, going to the movies is a luxury. But as she grew older, we were slowly but surely visiting the widescreens again. Of course, the movies that we watch are usually kids-friendly. Today, Daddy took the day off because C and I are at home and we decided to catch

Yes, I know... this movie has been screening for quite some time now and it is almost at the end of its run.

On our way there...

C, at the cinema and she saw the characters to Toy Story 3. Naturally, she insisted on having her picture taken.

We got our tickets and would be going in soon...

The movie was great! C enjoyed herself although she was trying her might not to fall asleep at some parts of the movie as it was her nap time. She was laughing too at some of the jokes and even re-enacted some scenes when she was recounting the movie.

My instructions to C before I left for work this morning was, "Complete your homework if you want to come for the movie later in the evening." My pals at work had organised a "Movies under the Stars" and I already had plans to take C for the event.

However, I had been extremely busy at work and was even contemplating not returning to work after I left at 5.30pm that evening. When I got back, C came running to me and told me that she had been doing her homework. Aunt Linda also confirmed that C started even before she came over.

I saw that she had completed all 4 pieces of homework! Instantly, I felt guilty and knew that the promise I made had to be carried out.

I packed C's dinner and she ate it after we arrived in school.

My pals from work! C had pop corn too. :)

"Mighty Ducks!" C enjoyed the movie.

:)

What is so great about the school holidays?

Well, for starters, I am off on a weekday and C has no classes to attend. To top it all, if Daddy gets some time off as well, we will take the opportunity to take C somewhere or do something that is quite different. We wanted to go swimming because the weather was so hot and frolicking in the pool seemed a fantastic idea.

But C wasn't keen so Plan B: she caught the trailers of the movie, Monsters vs Aliens and when we told her there would be popcorns, she beamed and then said, "Let's go!".

We took the bus and gave our ride a rest today! :)

C waiting for the arrival of the bus ...

... and took a picture of us.

C enjoying the view from the top.

C is no longer covering her ears nor burying her head or hiding her face when some scary scenes come on: which is a marked improvement from the last time I took her to the cinema. She is beginning to enjoy the movie. :)

It was a funny show to catch! Check out the trailers:

And she said, to celebrate Daddy's birthday, she wants to treat him to a sushi lunch.

Initially, we thought we would miss the movie as Daddy had been extremely busy at work. Well, we weren't exactly idling our time away as well as we were preparing for our trip. But at 5pm, Daddy called and said he could make it for the movie so I hurried C to complete whatever she was doing and then we were out of the house in 15 min!

It was drizzling but that didn't dampen our spirits. C was humming and singing along the way and she very obligingly posed for shots in the rain.

There was a reception and C wanted to have her picture taken with Santarina!

Then we adjourned to the cinema upstairs. As it was free seating, we had to make sure we were in the queue early so we didn't get to shop around.

Luckily, Daddy arrived just in time for the movie.

Cheryl totally enjoyed the show and she liked the characters, especially Bolt. Many a times, we caught her wiping tears off her face and when we asked her if she was crying, she replied that she was merely "wiping the water off her eyes". Hee.

The Lians went to the movies again!

All thanks to Aunt Chloe who got the tickets for us, 10 of us; Aunt Chloe, Uncle Eugene, Joshua, Aunt Chloe's Mummy, Aunt Xin Xin, Uncle Leslie, Jing Heng and us went for the much talked about Wall E movie.

Like always, I had to constantly explained to C what was happening in the movie as she was afraid at some more intense parts of the show. But she had fun, munching on the popcorn. She remembered the previous time when she caught the movie, Kung Fu Panda with Zinnia and Yeva how they were enjoying the show and popping popcorn!

After the movie, Daddy, Uncle Eugene and I went to Comex as we wanted to get something for Cheryl. Daddy finally bought the little note that he was eyeing some months back for our Precious.

Our Loot:

Cheryl was thrilled to have her own pc and she tried her hands immediately playing the activities on her favourite site.

And right now, all three of us are online; Daddy playing his game, Cheryl on her phonics site and I am blogging!

There is one particular scene in the movie that touched C. It was the one where Wall E found a plant and presented it to Eve.

C told me in the showers that she wanted to grow a plant too so immediately after her bath, we got ourselves some cotton wool, a plastic cup and some green beans and proceeded to place the wet cotton wool into the empty cup and then she put the green beans in. After that, we put the cup at the window where there would be sunlight.

I told her that we would check on her plant in the morning and for the next few days but she was peering over into the cup every few minutes since she left it there. She was rather pleased with herself for the effort.